Melbourne crowds are likely to offer warm support to her this week and research suggests fans continue to back stars and sports laid low by doping scandalsHere is a prediction. Every time Maria Sharapova steps on to court at the Australian Open this year she will be greeted with shrieks of: “Come on Maria!” and elongated waves of goodwill. There will be smiles. And, before even the Russian’s first practice stroke, the unease generated when she received the honour of parading the women’s trophy at the draw last week will be ancient history – much like her positive test for meldonium at Melbourne Park two years ago, and her 15-month suspension.The thing is, we – the public – talk a...
After covering 26 Tours I have some wonderful memories but the 2017 race was my last reporting full-time. It is time to spend my Julys doing something elseWhen I returned from reporting on the Tour de France for the first time I told my then boss, Martin Ayres, that I felt the Tour could be addictive. That was 27 years and 26 Tours ago, which speaks for itself. Now it is time to go through the journalistic equivalent of cold turkey. I have decided this is my last Tour reporting full-time for the Guardian, nearly a quarter of a century after I was first offered the job.I will return to the race, I would hope, but not as a full-time,...
Team Sky’s champion never looked dominant in the 2017 race despite a lack of seasoned contenders and, at 32, he cannot go on defying the yearsWith no disrespect to Chris Froome immediately after his fourth Tour de France win I do not believe the Team Sky leader will make it five and thus join the ranks of the immortals: Indurain, Merckx, Hinault and Anquetil – not next year and probably not the year after. I appreciate that accusations that I am indulging in anti-Team Sky, anti-Froome wishful thinking will flood in but I would like to think the judgment is based on logical analysis as well as emotion. That is not emotion in the tear‑your‑hair‑out sense but on the feeling you get...
Race management, team support and the lack of a serious rival were all significant factors on the three-week journey to ParisChris Froome, apart from his 200 metres of weakness at Peyragudes, managed this Tour brilliantly, fighting for every second, never ceding an inch, hanging on to the advantage he gained in the opening time trial, all the while believing firmly he would gain time in the final contre la montre. He also did enough in the mountains – on the Mur de Péguère, on the Izoard – to make his opponents believe that he could climb with the best. The best and perhaps most important example of his unremitting ability to keep concentrating day to day was the uphill finish at...
Another Chris Froome PR disaster; cringeworthy presidential memories; a new French hero is born; and a return to Puy-de-Dôme must be on the cardsFor the first time this year, I drive the roads of the Tour stage; the last 120km. Up to 10 years ago, this was a daily occurrence, but it is something we never do now, as all superfluous cars are directed on to a diversionary route to avoid risks to spectators. As always, there are insights to be gained from actually seeing the roads that you simply don’t get from a television camera, and there is local colour in abundance. Everywhere is the emblem of the Beast, an 18th century legend involving – depending on who you...